OPTIONAL FORM NO. 10 pppq"ft P5, lease 2QPO/08/31 UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT Memorandum TO Executive Assistant to the Director of Training FROM : Chief, Language School DATE: 9 January 1970 SUBJECT: Weekly Activities Report 1. Interior painting of the Language School was scheduled to begin 5 January and to take about two weeks. Preparations were made, walls cleared, etc. The painters did not show as promised and it was not until 7 January that we learned why. On that date Mr. Searls, General Manager of Arlington Towers, and Mr. Graham, Arlington Towers Maintenance Supervisor 25X1A9a met with if the Language School. In essence Mr. Searls stated that his New York Office had ordered him not to paint or to undertake other repairs until the matter of continued occupancy of the building had been settled. Mr. Searls stated the position of his New York Office was that the expenditure of monies for major improvements could hard- ly be undertaken unless they had assurance that we would remain in the build- ing for at least two years. Improvements mentioned included, painting the entire building) installation of new lighting fixtures where required to bring the lighting up to desired standards, improved heating/air conditioning, new floor tile and other feasable improvements which we felt were necessary to get the building in first class condition. Mr. Searls also indicated that a new lease (after 31 August 1970) would be at a higher figure than the one presently in force. The figure he mentioned was $4.15 per square foot. C/LS pointed out that the structure of the building was not condu- cive to good training. Ceilings were too low, jerry rigged heating and cool- ing ducts hung so low that they provided farther obstacles to good training and that despite any amount of effort and money to improve conditions, the structure as such could not be changed so that it would always be that for which it was intended, a garage. He also commented on Arlington Towers fail- ure to maintain the building, provide adequate janitorial services, and pro- vide adequate temperature control, all of which the management should have been doing regularly. Again Mr. Searls reiterated what they could and would do to improve conditions -- he was obviously on a hard sell. C/LS stated that he could make no commitments but indicated that new quarters were being sought for the LS by GSA and the matter was in their hands. Mr. Searls felt that GSA did not always act expeditiously and he was anxious to respond to his New York Office. C/LS agreed to forward the information through channels so that GSA would have some feeling of urgency in making a decision and in- formimW the Arlington Towers Management. Mr. Searls did say that even with- out the long term lease he could still paint the building if we would decide upon a color other than that originally agreed on. We agreed on a color, although we commented that we would prefer improved janitorial services. Prig", d9whrZ0,11 and proved For Release 2000/08/31 : 00100030 Buy U.S. Savings Bonds Regularly on the Payroll Savings Plan Approved For Release X010813 2. The number of new students beginning full-time and part-time language training during the week of 5 January 1970 was the largest enrollment enjoyed by the Language School in many years. 54 students registered; 40 full-time, v--' 14 part-time -- 15 French, 10 Spanish, 8 Russian, 5 Thai, 5 German, 5 Portu- guese, 4 Vietnamese, 2 Arabic. The Thai, German, Vietnamese and Portuguese are all full-time. This kind of enrollment in German and Portuguese is a dis- tin'but gratifying change from the past. Although we could handle additional students in some languages it would be impossible to add new classes. We have run out of classroom space. 3. Candidates taking our multiple-choice reading proficiency test have hitherto been permitted to shorten their testing time by selecting one of four combinations of questions, according to their self-estimated proficiency level.L,--' It was discovered that if a candidate misjudges his apparent level the score could be affected. To assure equitable scoring, all candidates will now take the complete test. 4. Due to the number of Portuguese students now at LS, only one instruc- tor is available for proficiency testing. Since a panel of two is normally needed, we have recruited the services of a high proficiency level speaker 25X1A6a Headquarters who has recently returned from 5. During the Christmas break a two-week introductory course in Indonesian was given to two wives of staff employees now studying the language. It proved to be a successful experiment and the wives, the students and FE Division have all expressed their gratitude to us. 6. Also, during the Christmas break two recent additions to our Staff took the Basic Teacht,/ Training Course. They were also briefed on testing procedures. 7. Language School Statistics Three language proficiency tests were administered during the week 29 December - 2 January. Approved For Release 2000/08/31 : 9

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